Immigration raid jolts L.A. Fashion District

Sweep compounds worries for shoppers and struggling business owners.

- BY SUHAUNA HUSSAIN AND RUBEN VIVES

DISPLAYS ARE put up as stores open in the Fashion District a day after federal immigration agents swarmed the area. Below is the intersection that agents blocked Thursday to allow a caravan to pass through.

Photographs by MYUNG J. CHUN Los Angeles Times

In the Fashion District, workers hoisted up the metal grates protecting storefronts, strung up canopies and set up racks of clothing and signs advertising sales for $1 accessories, $2 shirts.

Browsing lacy stockings and harnesses Friday morning at Wendy's Lingerie on Maple Avenue, Faith Avila, 24, and her friend had no idea that a mere 24 hours before, the intersection a few yards away had been locked down by federal agents. Or that the store she was browsing in had shut down the rest of the day as a result.

Federal agents had carried out an immigration sweep, unsettling shoppers and distressing business owners who were struggling from last year's enforcement operations.

The sweep took place late Thursday morning near Maple Avenue and 11th Street. Videos shared on social media show armed agents standing in the middle of the intersection while a procession of unmarked vehicles turned onto 11th.

Witnesses reported seeing the agents visiting vendors and requesting proof of citizenship. It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been taken into custody.

In an email response to The Times, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not provide details of the operation but said that federal immigration agents would continue to operate in the city.